The State Opening of Parliament took place last Wednesday, with the Queen setting out the Government’s legislative programme for the coming year to both the Houses of Parliament and Lords. And while the news cycle has been kept busy with coverage of this most traditional of British events, was anything said to interest us comms industry types?

In essence – yes. The announcement of the Digital Economy Bill was enough for those in the communications industry to sit up and pay attention and its aims are worthy of applause. The desire to provide Internet parity across the nation, protect innocents from the seedier side of the Web and taking steps to increase consumer choice and competition are all commendable inclusions – however – it’s the lack of thinking around the ‘detail’ or the reality of implementation which means that the politicos have gone and shot themselves in the foot. Again.

The next author to introduce himself to our readers is our Sales Director, Stephen Barclay…

How long have you worked at Entanet?
I first came to Entanet in August 2010, so I’m well on my way to six years of service.

What are your key responsibilities within the business and what are your areas of expertise?As Entanet’s Sales Director I’m responsible for the strategic direction of our sales efforts and ultimately for both customer acquisition and retention. In reality this means that my role is quite diverse – from overseeing sales planning, forecasting and revenue targets to the strategic direction of how we engage with customers. This means making sure that we work in conjunction with our partners, that our sales process is consultative and that we support our partners to achieve their goals. Of course this also means ensuring that we have the appropriate skillset and expertise available within our team, specifically from a technical point of view – so that we can add value to our partners with our creative approach to solutions design.

An attempt to get the hashtag ‘they don’t get that in the Rhondda’ to trend on Twitter helped to raise the profile of how rural communities are fast becoming the ‘have nots’ in many aspects of modern society. Contributions to the tag varied from takeaway pizza to taxi availability after dark to the lack of fibre optic broadband. While entertaining, the underlying message is serious and one that the communications industry has been debating for years – how to ensure connectivity parity between urban and rural communities.

The Superfast Broadband Programme – announced by Prime Minister David Cameron back in 2010 – aims to level the playing field by bringing fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) connectivity to at least 95% of the UK by the end of the 2017. This spring has seen a flurry of press activity around Phase One completions (i.e. counties achieving their 90% coverage target) demonstrating that BT and BDUK are on target with the rollout, but consumers continue to feel duped and disappointed that the reality doesn’t match up to their expectations. And for this the Government needs to accept some responsibility.

Sometimes it’s difficult for customers to know where to start when choosing a connectivity solution. Are they clear about why they need it? Are they a business or domestic customer? How much are they focusing on download speed? What about uploads? Are they worried about sharing bandwidth? Do they expect service to be guaranteed? How much budget is available? Where is their physical geographic location? All of these will have an impact on the solution that you propose, but it’d be great to have an ‘at a glance’ guide to help you navigate your way through this minefield. The good news is that our latest eBook, an update to our popular Guide to Connectivity, provides all of the information that you need about the technologies currently available from Entanet.

Industry has argued against it since it was first mooted in 2014, but from 16th March BT Openreach will no longer be supplying a modem on fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) installations (including upgrades from ADSL/2+). While Openreach say that this industry-wide change will simplify provision by dispensing with the need to book an engineer appointment, in reality we think the advantages and disadvantages will be more widely felt. As a wholesale supplier, we are wary of the impact on both resellers and consumers – especially in terms of the potential for confusion and misunderstandings.

Two new installation options will be available in place of the withdrawn product, both of which require the consumer to supply and connect their own Openreach-approved modem/routing device.

Option 1 is a standard installation and will see an engineer complete a ‘wires only’ connection at the PCP (primary connection point, aka the cabinet) and will not visit the consumer’s premises. This means that the NTE5 faceplate will not be changed and the consumer will need to fit VDSL filters to all extensions in order to complete the installation.

Option 2 – a ‘managed’ installation – is available at an additional cost. With this service an engineer will visit the consumer premises to uplift any wiring and fit a service specific faceplate – they may also connect the modem/routing device if it’s available at the point of connection.

Following a brief study into customers’ understanding of advertised broadband pricing, the ASA plans to impose a new set of rules in May that will change how all ISPs advertise pricing of services. We discussed the plans in detail in our article Are the ASA and Ofcom ignoring the UK’s smaller ISPs yet again? but now we want to know how you feel about the proposed changes. Do you think that what’s good for the consumer is good for the industry, or do the proposals need re-thinking to better reflect the industry as a whole? Let us know by participating in our poll and/or leaving a comment below.

This month Entanet celebrates 20 years in business and what a busy 20 years they’ve been! To set the scene, we were started back in 1996 by Taiwanese businessman Jason Tsai. Jason already operated the successful Enta Technologies and saw an opportunity in the provision of Internet services to technology resellers and alike. Entanet was born, delivering Internet connectivity, hosting and colocation services to channel partners. Our timeline below demonstrates just some of the major milestones the company has achieved since then.

We’ve seen many industry changes over the years with new competitors entering the market and old ones folding or being acquired; we’ve adopted a whole host of major regulatory changes and learned of various Government plans and policies to tackle everything from copyright infringement through to surveillance; and of course we’ve been excited to adopt numerous technological developments and advances, bringing new products and services and creating new market opportunities.

News broke late last week that the ASA’s (Advertising Standards Authority) and Ofcom’s recent joint study into customers’ understanding of advertised broadband pricing has found it is ‘likely to mislead’ customers and in response they plan to impose a number of changes on all ISPs from 30th May 2016.

The suggested changes are as follows:

– Advertise all-inclusive up-front and monthly costs; no more separating out line rental

– Greater prominence for the contract length and any post-discount pricing

It’s certainly been an eventful year within the industry, with plenty of innovations and new technologies and trends emerging, an abundance of regulatory changes both UK and EU based, industry process changes with things like the new switching process and channel unrest with a clear backlash against BT’s relationship with Openreach. We’ve tried to keep you up to date and informed about the key issues that affect you and your customers as part of this fascinating channel, as well as providing useful eBooks and sales advice along the way too.

If you missed any of the blog this year and would like a quick recap, why not download our ‘2015- A year of Opinion in review’ eBook and have a catch up over the holidays. Simply enter your email address into the form field below to receive your free copy.

When the Internet started out as a strategically important yet humble US defense project, little did its engineers know that it would become the commercial, social and life transforming medium that we know and use so regularly today. Before Facebook and Twitter were even an idea, before anyone thought about being able to sell products online and well before you could call your family or control your home heating system from your mobile, the Internet’s first beginnings aimed only to send a message.

The first message sent between a laboratory at the University of California (UCLA) and Stanford Research Institute (SRI) was sent via ‘ARPANET’, a US Department for Defense project back in 1969. That was the start! It took a further 20 years for Sir Tim Berners-Lee to develop the World Wide Web and really initiate the beginning of the Internet as we know it, a hugely successful, international commercial and social communications tool that has revolutionised pretty much every aspect of our lives both business and personal. Just when you think it can’t get any bigger, new ideas and technologies come along to expand the reach of the Internet even further- we bet back in 1969 their imagination didn’t go as far as discussing connected cars, fridges and wearable devices! Our history of the Internet infographic shows just some of the landmarks in our Internet journey.